Chapter 39: Pointer 6
39 – Pointer 6
Qi Yun was pushed through the door.
Lin Xun and Chang Ji entered on their own.
Once inside, Lin Xun immediately closed the iron security door behind him.
Qi Yun stood in the entryway, his figure slightly stiff, carrying a hint of desolation.
Lin Xun said, “You haven’t actually done anything wrong. We’ll treat you well.”
Qi Yun replied, “Do you think I’d believe you?”
Lin Xun said, “Look, Brother Chang Ji is here. Buddhists are compassionate—how could they harm you?”
Qi Yun retorted, “Today alone, he knocked out at least twenty people. And you’re telling me he’s compassionate? Let me tell you—”
As they were arguing, Xiaoyaozi walked from the room into the living room. Judging by his movements, he had just hung up the phone.
Xiaoyaozi immediately noticed Xiao Xiao, whom Lin Xun was dragging along.
“Bring her here. This humble Daoist will expel the demon from her body.”
Lin Xun laid Xiao Xiao flat on the sofa, then helped her sit up so Xiaoyaozi could access her back. He glanced around the empty living room and asked, “Senior, where are the others?”
Xiaoyaozi replied, “Today, the Immortal Sect officially began its demon extermination. Fellow cultivators have already rushed to various locations to subdue the demons. Only this humble Daoist remains here to coordinate.”
Lin Xun asked, “Various locations?”
“Indeed,” Xiaoyaozi replied, pressing his right index finger to the center of Xiao Xiao’s spine and channeling Qi upward as he spoke to Lin Xun. “Shenji Zhenren has exhausted the strength of the Tianyan Sect to deploy the Zhou Tian Star Formation over the capital, monitoring traces of demonic activity everywhere.”
He pointed his left hand toward the living room wall. “The formation was just completed today. Go and take a look.”
Lin Xun and Chang Ji headed over, while Qi Yun, unsure of what to do, followed them.
Originally, an ancient ink-wash landscape painting had hung on the wall. Now, it had transformed into a modern illustration—a bird’s-eye view of the capital. On this map, faint silver threads flowed, connecting various points, and red lights flickered intermittently. Clearly, the red lights indicated locations where demons had appeared. At the same time, small golden dots moved slowly across the map, likely marking the positions of the Immortal Sect members.
“This way… demon extermination will be much more convenient,” Lin Xun remarked.
“Not exactly,” Chang Ji said, touching the surface of the illustration. “This formation records information about demon seeds, so it can sense their presence. But we have no records of other demons.”
Lin Xun asked, “Like Xiao Xiao?”
Chang Ji replied, “Mm.”
They turned their attention to Xiaoyaozi.
An intricate formation materialized beneath Xiaoyaozi’s hands, which he then forcefully drove into Xiao Xiao’s body!
Xiao Xiao coughed violently, spewing a large mouthful of black blood. Simultaneously, a dark form slowly emerged from her body.
In the blink of an eye, Xiaoyaozi swung his snow-white horsetail whisk, his Daoist robe billowing. With lightning speed, the dark entity was struck down to the floor!
While demon seeds were clusters of black mist, this entity was a vague, shadowy humanoid figure. The moment it separated from Xiao Xiao’s body, it emitted a sharp, piercing shriek that felt as though it could tear open one’s skull.
Xiaoyaozi sighed, “Indeed, other demons have already appeared. This is a sound demon, possessing some level of intelligence. Sound demons bewitch people with sound. In terms of Cultivation realms, it has reached the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment. Most mortals are unable to resist it. Fortunately, you controlled the situation well and prevented it from affecting more mortals.”
Lin Xun said, “There were hundreds of people at the scene. Although Madam said she would handle it… I still think it’s impossible to keep it hidden.”
“It’s no matter,” Xiaoyaozi said. “The Nan Zhao sect originated from the Miaojiang region. Though it belongs to the Immortal Sect, it is also a school of witchcraft, specializing in illusions and gu techniques. The Lady was skilled in these arts and could tamper with people’s memories at the time.”
Elder Xiaoyaozi’s speech was neither entirely classical nor fully vernacular—a mix of both—which made comprehension difficult for Lin Xun. Still, he managed to grasp that the Lady had used illusion techniques or similar methods to handle the audience present at the time.
As they were speaking, Xiaoxiao opened her eyes.
She gazed blankly around the room, opened her mouth, but no words came out.
“Don’t move, girl,” Xiaoyaozi said, slapping another talisman onto her before releasing her back. “There, you’re fine now.”
Once Xiaoxiao had regained some clarity, Xiaoyaozi asked, “…How much do you remember from the past few days?”
Xiaoxiao stared at him blankly, and after a long while, she said, “I… I don’t know, I can’t remember clearly.”
She furrowed her brows, then after another moment: “I remember going to the competition, Brother Zhi Zhen saw me off, and then…”
Xiaoyaozi sighed.
Lin Xun asked her, “What about before that? Why did you want to compete?”
Xiaoxiao said, “I suddenly felt that I sang very well… and when I sang for my mother, she said so too.”
Lin Xun: “So you signed up?”
Xiaoxiao: “I really wanted to sing, I couldn’t wait. I also wanted to earn money, and when I saw the sign-up notice, I…”
That was all they could learn from Xiaoxiao. After comforting her, Lin Xun escorted her out.
“You… focus on your studies,” Lin Xun said finally. “If you have any difficulties, you can come to us.”
Xiaoxiao bit her lower lip, nodded, and went downstairs to leave. Her figure looked very frail.
Before this incident, no one could have imagined that such a seemingly delicate girl, burdened by heavy negative emotions due to her family circumstances, would attract the most formidable demonic entity to possess her.
“With the Sound Demon already appearing, other demonic entities won’t be far behind,” Xiaoyaozi said, clasping his hands behind his back as he approached the Zhou Tian Star Formation. “This is a calamity unseen by our Immortal Sect for centuries, and a great disaster for the mortal world as well.”
At this point, his gaze shifted and locked onto Qi Yun.
Though Qi Yun lacked intelligence, he seemed to understand the gravity of the situation. Under the gaze of this Nascent Soul stage elder, he immediately fell silent as a mouse, even hiding a little behind Chang Ji.
Xiaoyaozi continued, “What is your master doing today? Does he know about the demonic invasion?”
Qi Yun: “I don’t know.”
Xiaoyaozi: “Then why have you come to the capital?”
Qi Yun: “I’m an entertainer, here for a show.”
Xiaoyaozi’s expression visibly turned puzzled: “To perform sword dancing?”
Qi Yun puffed out his chest: “No, I’m a singer.”
Xiaoyaozi: “Where is your master now?”
Qi Yun: “I won’t say.”
Xiaoyaozi sneered: “You must be here to spy on the whereabouts of the Chixiao Longque Sword.”
Qi Yun: “…”
Lin Xun thought, No, Elder, he’s not that clever. He really is here to advance his career.
“Very well,” Xiaoyaozi said. “You have contributed to dealing with the demonic entity, and I am not an unreasonable man. In that case, deliver a message to your master for me: the Immortal Sect now faces a great calamity. If he repents and returns to Qingcheng to join us in exterminating the demons, I am willing to let bygones be bygones.”
Qi Yun’s eyes shifted thoughtfully.
“I’ll pass on the message.” Qi Yun said, “Anyway, my master won’t agree. My Sword Sect is the true orthodox lineage of Qingcheng. You Dao cultivators are just cuckoo—”
He suddenly fell silent, leaving only the trailing sound of “cuckoo.”
Lin Xun turned to look at him and saw his eyes wide open, mouth unable to speak, glaring angrily at Chang Ji.
Xiaoyaozi’s expression had already darkened. “The debate between Dao and Sword was settled centuries ago. Juniors should not speak nonsense!”
Qi Yun was already incapable of speaking nonsense.
Unable to speak nonsense, Qi Yun was dragged out by Chang Ji, thrown outside the door, and then the door was closed.
Lin Xun’s phone lit up quickly.
Jiyan Sect – Feihong: Damn, I can’t talk anymore
Jiyan Sect – Feihong: What did that bald donkey do?
Jiyan Sect – Feihong: How do I fix this?
A Happy Pointer: I don’t know either.
A Happy Pointer: You’d better ask him.
A Happy Pointer: Senior brother is compassionate and won’t make things difficult for you.
Jiyan Sect – Feihong: Do you think I believe that?
Lin Xun closed his phone. He didn’t want to talk to people who didn’t use periods.
Not using periods in chat was like forgetting to add semicolons in programming, or even like not using line breaks for curly braces—utterly ugly.
After expelling Qi Yun, Elder Xiaoyaozi’s attitude became much calmer. He began explaining specific knowledge about demons to Lin Xun and Chang Ji, such as the types of demons and how to deal with each kind.
…Low-level demons, represented by demon seeds, are completely irrational and only attack mechanically, equivalent to the Qi Refining Stage.
Intermediate demons, such as the sound demon that possessed Xiaoxiao, possess a certain level of intelligence, carry dense demonic Qi, and can rapidly spread demon seeds. Their cultivation levels range from Foundation Establishment to Golden Core.
As for high-level demons that command hordes of lesser demons, according to Xiaoyaozi, their appearance and behavior are indistinguishable from real humans. Their strength is approximately at the Nascent Soul stage, and ordinary methods cannot identify them—only through the activities of other demons can clues be glimpsed.
Lin Xun thought about the scene where Xiaoxiao infected an entire stadium audience with one song, then connected it with Xiaoyaozi’s explanation and frowned.
Only today did he realize that the demon invasion was not a minor disturbance but a real disaster.
And just ten days ago, he was still a simple programmer—the world changed too fast.
Xiaoyaozi’s lecture lasted until evening.
When he finally returned downstairs, the three were already having dinner.
Wang Anquan: “You were out for ten hours. Did you go fool around with Dong Jun again?”
Lin Xun: “Dong Jun is in Canada. I didn’t have a chance to fool around with him.”
Wang Anquan: “So you admit you’ve fooled around with him before?”
Lin Xun no longer cared about Wang Anquan’s remarks because he heard a cat meowing.
Although Pointer was no longer a kitten, its voice was still soft and childish. It meowed while quickly emerging from its room.
Lin Xun stepped forward and picked it up. “Have you eaten?”
After saying this, he checked the cat bowl—it had eaten quite a bit.
Pointer: “Meow.”
Wang Anquan: “The little cat has been looking for you all day.”
Lin Xun immediately felt full of guilt toward Pointer.
He gently pinched Pointer’s pink paw pads, looked at its clean, neat program interface, and said softly, “I won’t go out tomorrow.”
Pointer: “Meow.”
Lin Xun smiled. “I’ll give you treats.”
Pointer buried its head and finished today’s portion of treats, then jumped beside Lin Xun, rubbed against him affectionately.
At this moment, Lin Xun was certain he had already developed a deep bond with Zhi Zhen—even though they had only been together for three short days, it felt like three years. The progress was simply too fast, which could only be attributed to Zhi Zhen’s good nature.
Faced with such a beautiful and well-behaved cat, Lin Xun’s heart gradually grew mischievous.
He took a thin blanket from the bed and suddenly wrapped it around Zhi Zhen from behind!
Zhi Zhen: “Meow!”
Lin Xun bundled it into an unresisting cat burrito, leaving only its head exposed, then picked up the pet toothbrush and toothpaste from the side: “Be good, time to brush your teeth.”
—This was also something Dong Jun had mentioned: once they were familiar, he could brush Zhi Zhen’s teeth once a day.
“Don’t move, be good.” Lin Xun said, “Such pretty teeth.”
He gently brushed the small rubber bristles over Zhi Zhen’s teeth, finding joy in the cat’s expression of resigned despair.
Then, he wondered if Dong Jun dealt with Zhi Zhen’s teeth like this every day as well.
Unconsciously, the corners of his lips curled up. He hugged Zhi Zhen and rolled around on the bed a few times before untying it and opening WeChat.
It was now 7:30 p.m.
7:30 p.m., a delicate time. Based on Dong Jun’s time zone, he would already be awake but not yet started work.
Holding Zhi Zhen, Lin Xun sent a message to Dong Jun.
A Happy Zhi Zhen: I gave Zhi Zhen a treat today and then brushed its teeth.
A Happy Zhi Zhen: [Image]
A Happy Zhi Zhen: Do you want to video call with it?
Dong Jun’s reply came quickly.
Dong Jun: [File]
Lin Xun received, downloaded, and opened it.
Lin Xun: “…”
An error report.
His car’s error report.
—Had it been exposed just like that?
He quickly typed.
A Happy Zhi Zhen: I… I can explain.
A Happy Zhi Zhen: There was something urgent at the time, and I needed to speed. The system wouldn’t allow that kind of driving, so I… just… took the motherboard apart.
He anxiously waited for Dong Jun’s reply.
One minute, two minutes.
Three minutes later, there was still no reply.
A Happy Zhi Zhen: Does the error report get sent to you?
A Happy Zhi Zhen: I’m sorry, I won’t take it apart next time.
A Happy Zhi Zhen: qwq
Another minute passed, and finally, a message came from Dong Jun.
Dong Jun: There won’t be a next time.
The tone seemed quite stern.
Lin Xun anxiously ruffled Zhi Zhen’s fur, thinking that his idol seemed angry.
He felt like a student who had been scolded by a teacher for making a mistake—a little wronged and deeply upset.
He typed in the input box, wanting to apologize, but after deleting and rewriting, he still didn’t know what to say. In the end, he deleted everything and stared at the chat interface, unsure of what to do.
Just as he was feeling down, another message suddenly popped up from his idol.
Dong Jun: Be careful.